Soil structural stability and erosion rates influenced by agricultural management practices in a semi‐arid Mediterranean agro‐ecosystem

Abstract

Unsuitable agricultural practices can cause loss in soil quality and erodibility to thus increase or trigger desertification under Mediterranean conditions. A field experiment was performed at the El Teularet‐Sierra de Enguera Experimental Station (eastern Spain) to assess the influence during a 5‐yr period of different agricultural practices on physical and chemical indicators of soil quality (total and water‐soluble carbohydrates, glomalin‐related soil proteins (GRSP), total organic carbon, aggregate stability (AS), vegetation cover and soil erosion). The management practices included residual herbicide use, ploughing, ploughing + oats, addition of oat straw mulch and a control (land abandonment). Adjacent soil under natural vegetation was used as a reference for local, high‐quality soil and as a control for comparison with the agricultural soils under different management practices. Oat straw mulching led to higher levels of water‐soluble carbohydrates, GRSP and AS and lower soil erosion rates, resulting in values similar to those in the soil under native vegetation. The lowest levels of carbohydrates and GRSP were for the plots that were treated with herbicide or were ploughed. The maintenance of and increases in stable aggregates promoted by the different agricultural management practices over the years were attributed to increases in labile organic fractions such as carbohydrates and to the GRSP content. The results demonstrate that land abandonment (control plot) or the use of a cover (plants or straw) contributes to increases in soil quality and reduces the risk of erosion. The research also shows that sustainable agricultural management allows soil to recover and that the use of straw mulching is the most effective management strategy.

Effects of Land Use Change on Soil Carbon Storage and Water Consumption in an Oasis-Desert Ecotone

“…Lack of ground cover protection in windy seasons and decreasing organic carbon in soils are the main sources of risks with regard to wind erosion and desertification for croplands in the study area. The decrease of SOC may contribute to the deterioration of soil structural integrity and various functions that can lead to erosion and desertification problems, as revealed by studies conducted in North American and Mediterranean dryland areas (Li et al 2008;Maestre and Puche 2009;Garcia-Orenes et al 2012). Furthermore, decreased SOC storage capacity brought about by cropland expansion at local scales in dryland ecosystems weakens the high potential for these areas as carbon sinks, with far reaching implications for global change (Lal 2004).…”

Coffee husk mulch on soil erosion and runoff: experiences under rainfall simulation experiment

“…Different mulches have been tested to protect soil -rice straw, wood and olive residues, pine needle, and other vegetable residues (Cerdà and Doerr, 2008;García-Orenes et al, 2012;Prats et al, 2012;Jiménez et al, 2013) -and to improve the soil quality (Stavi et al, 2012). However, the review of the scientific literature published about mulch in soil conservation shows us that the use of coffee husks as mulch has not been investigated yet.…”

Scale effect on runoff and soil loss control using rice straw mulch under laboratory conditions

“…They showed that the conserved treatments did not significantly increase soil cover or affect runoff, but soil losses were low in all cases. García-Orenes et al (2012) demonstrated that the use of a cover (plants or straw) contributes to increases in soil quality and reduces the risk of erosion. Liu et al (2012) evaluated the effects of rice straw mulch and plastic film mulching at plot scale over 2 years in the Xiaofuling watershed in the Danjiangkou Reservoir area, China.…”